New Delhi: Arrested for slapping a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) outside a polling booth, Congress rebel Naresh Meena learnt his first lessons in politics from BJP veteran Kirodi Lal Meena before he switched his allegiance to the opposition party in Rajasthan.
Meena was arrested Thursday afternoon by the Rajasthan Police, but not before his supporters clashed with the men in khaki at Tonk’s Samravta village on Wednesday night that spilled over on Thursday. Dozens were injured while scores of vehicles set ablaze in the clashes.
The Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) Association is already on a strike demanding Meena, who contested as an Independent in the Deoli-Uniara Assembly bypolls, be arrested for slapping Malpura SDM Amit Chaudhary in full view of cameras. The association has said the stir would continue till they are not allowed to meet Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma.
“The government loses its credibility when people take law into their hands. Why did this situation arise wherein a SDM was slapped?,” senior Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot said.
मैंने कोई सरेंडर नहीं किया है! pic.twitter.com/BLsg0Vo7mZ
— Naresh Meena (@NareshMeena__) November 14, 2024
ThePrint traces the rise of Meena and his various episodes over the course of his political journey.
Meena’s foray into politics began in 2003 when he got elected as general secretary of the Students’ Union in Rajasthan University. Unlike Sheo Ravindra Singh Bhati, who was a president of Jodhpur’s Jai Narain Vyas University Students’ Union, Meena did not get a ticket from the Congress to contest from Baran in the 2023 Rajasthan assembly elections.
In 2023, he contested election as an Independent and surprised many by getting 44,000 votes in Baran. The Congress lost all seats in Baran district. Even Congress minister Pramod Jain Bhaya, who was against giving ticket to Meena, lost in Anta.
This time around, Meena was a top contender for the poll ticket from Deoli-Uniara, which was vacated after Harish Meena got elected to the Lok Sabha. But the latter was said to be against the nomination of Meena, and the ticket went to KC Meena.
“He is a rebel, who did not ticket both during assembly and Lok Sabha polls. He defeated the Congress candidate in the assembly elections by splitting votes. The Congress candidate lost by 5,000 votes,” a Rajasthan Congress leader told ThePrint.
The Meenas and the Gujjars have a sizable presence in Deoli-Uniara, where the candidates are from these two rival communities. Traditionally, the Congress backed the Meenas while the BJP fielded Gujjars candidates in elections.
In the 2008 Rajasthan polls, Congress candidate Ram Narayan Meena defeated BJP’s Nathuram Gujjar in this constituency. Five years later, the BJP’s Rajendra Gujjar trounced the sitting MLA. Last year, the Congress again placed its bet on the former MLA, who defeated BJP’s Vijay Bainsala.
The BJP fielded Vijay Bainsala in the bypolls this year. Though the Congress tried to placate Naresh Meena, he refused to budge and contested as an Independent candidate.
“I tried to convince him to not take a plunge in the election as he is young and that he can contest the next time… I have no idea why he decided to contest despite the Congress pressure to leave the field. When I was in the BJP, his wife contested district panchayat polls. He is a young leader… Although I tried my best to convince party leaders to give the poll ticket to him, they did not budge,” former MP and Congress leader Prahlad Gunjal told ThePrint.
Popularly called ‘Chhota Kirodi’ by his supporters, Naresh Meena once considered Kirodi Lal Meena as his guru. It was in 2017 when he made news by cutting his finger to make a ‘tilak‘ on Kirodi Lal Meena’s forehead. Though they went separate ways due to ideological differences, the two Meena leaders did not sever their ties.
“Kirodi Lal is behind Naresh Meena’s foray as Independent to help the BJP win Deoli-Uniara. Kirodi Lal’s younger brother Jagmohan Meena is contesting from neighbouring Dausa seat where the BJP veteran’s prestige is at stake. … Kirodi Lal has a major stake in Rajasthan bypolls as he had announced that he would not assume charge if the BJP doesn’t win in his stronghold area in the eastern belt of Rajasthan,” another Congress state leader told ThePrint.
BJP’s Tonk district president Ajit Singh Mehta told ThePrint that the Independent candidate had a fair share of controversies. “He has a track record of being involved in more than 23 cases, including those related to arson. The government will take action against him… Anyway, the BJP is winning the seat with or without his support,” Mehta added.
Whether the Congress rebel is helping Kirodi Lal Meena or not will be known only after the results are out on 23 November, but he spoke about placing his hopes on the Meena strongman. “All my arrested supporters are innocent. Violence has been done by police. I have no expectations from anyone except Kirodi Lal Meena,” he said, as the police rushed to arrest him.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
